Pouring a material stored within a container and controlling the flow of the material often presents challenges. In particular, it is often difficult to prevent residual material from: (a) entering and contaminating the lid cavity and/or the rim area of the container; and (b) dripping onto the sides of the container. This residual material and associated spills may eventually lead to loss of material, and user inconvenience owing to cleanliness and owing to difficulties in re-applying the lid to close the container, e.g., with residual material in the lid cavity and/or rim area. As an example, pouring a material (e.g., paint) from a container (e.g., paint bucket/container/can) often leads to the contamination of the rim area and usually creates spills and drips, which require frequent clean-up of the container and/or the surrounding work area.
To address these challenges, to control the flow, to reduce material waste, and to improve user experience, a number of pouring systems (e.g., pourers, pouring solutions, spouts, lips, funnels, conduits, nozzles, etc.) have been proposed. These known pouring systems typically protrude out of the container to achieve their intended use. A problem with these known pouring systems has been that they also protrude out of the container when not in use, thereby preventing the closure of the container. In addition, the protruding pouring system cannot be stowed inside a closed container, thereby making it unready for future use. The protruding pouring system also hinders the transportation of the container (e.g., in stackable configuration), and can present a hazard by contaminating items or clothing of people in the vicinity of the container.
Thus, it is desirable to provide a pouring device for pouring material from a container and method of using same that are able to overcome the above disadvantages.
Advantages of the present invention will become more fully apparent from the detailed description of the invention hereinbelow.